Wear-plate for railway-switches.



PATENTED IEB. 27, 1906. W. H. ELLIOT a J. J. TOWNSEND. WEAR PLATE FORRAILWAY SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED 1920.23, 1905.

' :f I Z www - shown in dotted lines thereon.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. ELLIOT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND JOHN J. TOVVNSEND, OFEAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO ELLIOT FROG 8c SWITCH COMPANY, OFEAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION.

WEAR-PLATE FOR RAILWAY-SWITCHES..

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1906.

Application led December 23, 1905. Serial No. 293,097.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. ELLIOT, residing in St. Louis, in theState of Missouri, and JOHN J. TowNsEND, residing in East St. Louis, inthe State of Illinois, citizens of the United States, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Wear-Plates for Railway-Switches,of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description,reference being had to the accom anying drawings, forming part of thisspeci cation.

Our invention relates to an improvement in that class of wear-plates onwhich railwayswitch-point sections rest for sliding movement and whichare of pressed description, being struck from a single piece of metal.In wear-plates of the kind named it is common to press from the plate anupwardly-extending projection on which the switch-point railsectionsride and which serve to provide shoulders against which one of thebottom flanges of the adjacent main-track rail rests to be held againstlateral movement. As the wear-plates of pressed form have heretoforebeen made there have been present in them weakened points, due to theupsetting of the metal at the locations of their projections,

which have rendered the plates extremely7 susceptible to breakage atsuch' weakened points, as a consequence ofwhich the plates areunreliable and unsafe for their utility, as

mentioned.

It is the object of our invention to provide against ,breakage of thewear-plates at their weakened points, and to attain this object wereinforce the plates at their struck-up portions, or, in other words, atthe location of the upwardly-extending projections.

Figure I is a top or plan view of parts of a railway-tie, a main-trackrail, a switch-point rail-section, a switch-rod connected to saidsection, and our wear-plate in a position in which it may be used toreceive said switchpoint rail-section. Fig. II is an enlarged top orplan view of one of our wear-plates. Fig. III is a cross-section takenon line III III, Fig. II. Fig. IV is a longitudinaI section taken online IV IV, Fig. II, with a main rail Fig. V is a top or plan view of amodification of the wearplate. Fig. VI is a cross-section taken on lineVI VI, Fig. V. Fig. VII is a longitudinal section taken partiallythrough another modification of our wear-plate.

A designates a railway-tie, and B a maintrack rail supported by saidtie.

C is a Aswitch-point rail-section that is adapted to be connected to amating switchpoint rail-section bya switch-rod D.

I designates a pressed wear-plate that is mounted upon the tie A andsecured thereto by any suitable means, such as spikes. This wear-plateis provided with an upwardlyextending projection 2, which is struck orpressed from the body of the plate and on which the switch pointrailsection C is adapted to ride. In pressing the projection 2 from thebody of the plate said plate is weakened at the sides and ends of theproj ection, and particularly at the innermost end 3 of the projectionagainst which it is usual to seat the main-track rail B, so that it willrest against a shoulder produced at this point, as seen in Fig. IV, tohold the main rail against lateral movement in a direction toward theprojection. To compensate for the weakening of the body of the plate atthe ends and sides of its projection, we locate in the recess beneathsaid projection a reinforcing-plate 4, that is preferably of suchthickness that its lower side will occupy a plane corresponding to theplane of the wear-plate at its lower side and will rest upon the tiebeneath the plate, thereby relieving the projection 2 of the plate ofstrain to which it would in the .absence of the reinforcing-plate besubjected.

The projection 2 is preferably located entirely within the sides andends of the wear-plate, as shown in Figs. I to IV, inclusive, and italso preferably has its greatest length in a direction longitudinal ofthe wear-plate. For the purpose of providing for the retention of thereinforcing-plate 4 in its seat beneath the projection 2 saidreinforcing-plate is preferably beveled at its ends, as seen at 5, Fig.IV, and the reinforcing-plates are set into said seats while the metalof the wear-plate is in a heated condition, and by pressing the partstogether with the wear-plate in such heated condition thereinforcing-plates'are caused to become embedded at their tapering endswith an angular joint into the bodies of the wear- IOO plates and willthereafter retain their positions without` the necessity of utilizingany member to hold them in position.

In Figs. V and VI we have shown modifications of our wear-plate, inwhich the parts differ from those described in that the Wear plate 1Lhas its projection 2fL extending transversely across the 'plate fromside to side thereof instead of being located entirely within the sidesand ends of the plate and in which the reinforcing-plate 4 extendstransversely across the wear-plate beneath said projection instead oflongitudinally of the wear-plate. In Fig. VII we have shown anothermodification in which the reinforcingplate 4b is connected to thewear-plate at the ocation of its projection 2b by rivets 6 instead ofbeing secured to said wear-plate in the manner previously described.

We claim as our invention- 1. As a new article of manufacture, a pressedwear-plate of the character described having a projection, and areinforcing-plate set into said wear-plate at the location of saidprojection, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a pressed wear-plate of thecharacter described having a projection at its upper side, and a seatbeneath said projection, and a reinforcing-plate secured to said seat,substantially as set forth. l

3. As a new article of manufacture, a pressed wear-plate of thecharacter described having a projection at its upper side and a seatbeneath said projection, and a reinforcing-plate having angle-jointengagement with said wear-plate within said seat, substantially as setforth.

WILLIAM H. ELLIOT. JOHN J. TOWNSEND.

In presence of- E. S. KNIGHT, BLANCHE HOGAN.

